Nigeria’s telecommunications networks experienced a sharp rise in major service disruptions in May 2025, as fibre cuts, power outages, and system failures pushed network outages to their highest point this year. According to data compiled by Uptime, a network monitoring platform, the worst-hit operators were 9mobile and MTN Nigeria, raising concerns about the quality of telecom services in Africa’s largest mobile market.
From January 1 to May 19, 2025, 9mobile reported 31 major outages across several states, followed by MTN Nigeria with 25. Approximately 70% of these incidents were traced to fibre cuts caused by roadworks or vandalism. The resulting downtime severely impacted core services, leaving millions of subscribers offline. While all major mobile network operators (MNOs) experienced outages—Globacom had 20 and Airtel 13—9mobile not only faced the highest number of incidents but also recorded the longest service restoration times.
These major outages often result in the complete shutdown of critical services such as SMS, voice calls, mobile data, and USSD, sometimes lasting for hours. While less severe incidents occur more frequently, they can still degrade service quality depending on their scope. In an earlier interview with , Yahaya Ibrahim, Chief Technical Officer at MTN Nigeria, disclosed that the network handles up to 30 such incidents daily.
When disruptions occur, operators typically reroute traffic—if the fibre cut is not on a major line—before dispatching engineers to identify and fix the issue. However, cuts to major fibre routes, once infrequent, have become increasingly common this year.
Network outages in Nigeria are more frequent and prolonged than in many African peers, largely due to infrastructure gaps, power instability, and regulatory hurdles. In contrast, countries like South Africa and Kenya have more resilient networks, backed by stronger infrastructure and faster incident response systems. For example, in urban areas like Johannesburg and Pretoria, businesses can expect emergency WiFi support response times ranging from 35 to 80 minutes, while rural areas may experience longer response times of 80 to 240 minutes.
The growing frequency of outages in Nigeria directly impacts customer experience and business operations of telecom subscribers. In a digital economy increasingly reliant on stable connectivity, extended downtime doesn’t just mean missed calls; it disrupts banking, business communications, logistics, emergency services, and access to basic information. Many of these outages, according to Uptime, were triggered by fibre cuts—often due to construction work—as well as grid instability and vandalism.
For instance, on May 14, 9mobile suffered one of its worst outages when power issues crippled its network across Lagos, affecting multiple local governments including Agege, Eti-Osa, and Apapa. The blackout lasted over 8 hours. Just days earlier, a fibre cut disrupted 9mobile’s data services in the FCT, Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, and other northern states for nearly 3 hours.
In another severe case, a power outage that began on April 29 in parts of Kebbi and Sokoto wasn’t resolved until May 14—more than 15 days later—after 7,000 litres of diesel were delivered to the affected base stations.
While all operators faced technical challenges, there was a stark difference in how quickly these issues were addressed. MTN, despite its high outage count, generally resolved incidents faster than its peers, according to resolution hours tracked by Uptime. One example: a fibre cut in Bayelsa and Rivers on May 11 that affected data, voice, and SMS services was fixed within just over an hour, the Uptime report showed. The longest turnaround time for MTN was a fibre cut incident in Benue that affected 12 communities and took the telco 3 hours and 12 minutes to resolve.
In contrast, 9mobile’s outages—especially those involving power supply—tended to linger much longer, like the Lagos power failure on May 14, which lasted over 8 hours, suggesting slower crisis response and weaker infrastructure redundancy.
MTN also faced non-technical challenges. In April, the Kogi State government, through its Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency (KUIMCA), sealed 16 MTN sites, cutting off access to 155 additional connected sites. This standoff, which lasted nearly 23 days, was only resolved in early May after negotiations, highlighting the regulatory and political risks telcos face beyond technical failures.
In response to the mounting service challenges, MTN Nigeria is ramping up its infrastructure investments. The company has committed ₦800 billion for network improvements in 2025, with ₦200 billion already spent in the first quarter alone, marking a 159% increase compared to the same period last year.
Ugonwa Nwoye, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Customer and Experience Officer, said in a statement to that the investment aims to “translate this into better customer experience, reduced congestion, faster internet speeds, and wider network reach.”
Part of this strategy includes deploying motorcycles to help engineers navigate heavy traffic in urban centres like Lagos, allowing them to reach incident sites more quickly. These motorcycles are also used for daily fibre cable inspections, enabling early detection and resolution of issues before they escalate into service disruptions.
However, the surge in outages and uneven restoration times raises broader concerns about the reliability of telecom services. For many Nigerians—over 140 million of whom rely on mobile networks for internet access—telecom infrastructure is essential to daily life, powering financial services, education, entertainment, and healthcare. When networks fail, trust in service providers erodes quickly.
9mobile’s performance is particularly concerning. With a dwindling subscriber base—down to 2.96 million as of March 2025 from over 20 million in 2015—the operator is under intense pressure to rebuild credibility. Frequent outages and prolonged service restoration only exacerbate customer dissatisfaction and hinder any potential recovery.
As Nigeria advances its digital inclusion goals and seeks to expand broadband access, the strength and reliability of its telecom infrastructure become even more critical. While the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has licensed over 40 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) to enhance competition, lower costs, and spur innovation, the success of these new entrants depends heavily on the resilience of the underlying networks provided by the incumbent MNOs.
